Choices

The number of choices any of us face in a day is astounding and can have a profound affect on our life.  The police were chasing a stolen car in my neighborhood.  The thief drove through a neighbors yard to try to escape.  Eventually he flipped the candy apple SUV and was arrested.  The mug shot on the local news showed a kid grinning at the camera-no doubt proud of his little minute of fame.

I make that turn they were traveling on several times a day.  No doubt many of my neighbors do the same.  It was by the grace of God, that no one made the decision to drive to town, or visit a friend,  at just that moment, as they could have easily been T-boned by this idiot.  So we never know what our choices will lead to.

Today, I was searching the net looking for personal finance information for my writing.  A news tidbit or something I could share.

A Sony 32 inch television was mentioned on one of the CNET blog’s for a great price.  I, of course, have been drooling over flat screens for a couple of years.  My wife bought me a small one for Christmas, our first, for the bedroom last November on black Friday.  They were almost giving it away.

It being football season, I would love to have a bigger one for the den.  The TV we watch now is a 26 inch tube model that even the local repair guy, no kid himself, laughs at-it is so old.

My friends will not  come to dinner on Saturdays during football season here at my house because I don’t have a big hdtv flat screen.  (Maybe that is not all bad-I can go to their house and eat their food.)

So maybe this choice isn’t life or death, like the decision to leave my neighborhood at just the wrong time, may have been on Saturday.  But to be able to teach personal finance to nurses, as I have committed to do, I have to practice what I preach.

So, why should I not buy that flat screen?

• I haven’t made a plan to buy a new television this year.
• It is not in my budget.
• I haven’t discussed it with my wife.
• I haven’t  done an extensive search on features and models to make sure I am making a smart purchase.

So no, I didn’t order the television, even though I could have probably gotten away with it-(my wife likes her NCIS after all).

I will admit, though, I bookmarked the site, just in case….. another Christmas is just around the corner